Designation of the group is likely to make a material impact in improving terrorist content takedown compliance.
The UK has evaluated Terrorgram as a terror organisation led by humans at its core. This network directs and coordinates online activities aimed at promoting terrorism. They achieve this by glorifying far-right terrorists, inciting violence, and providing detailed instructions for carrying out terrorist acts.
This significant development by the UK shows that designating online terrorist networks is possible and so provides a clear precedent for other democratic governments to follow suit. Tech Against Terrorism has already begun reporting Terrorgram-affiliated content to online platforms via its Terrorist Content Analytics Platform (TCAP) – the world’s first alert system for terrorist content. Tech Against Terrorism has tracked Terrorgram content shared on messaging apps, file-sharing platforms, archiving sites, and online libraries. In the last month alone, Tech Against Terrorism has sent alerts of Terrorgram material to seven different platforms, only four of which have been removed. Designation by the UK is therefore likely to make a material impact in improving terrorist content takedown compliance.
Commending the decision, Adam Hadley, Executive Director of Tech Against Terrorism said: “Terrorgram is unique in the terrorist ecosystem, having a core human leadership that convenes and operates online and relies solely on the internet to incite terrorism. As the first terrorist proscription of an online network globally, this signals a recognition of the danger that online propaganda plays in radicalisation and incitement of terrorism. This development also shows that it is possible to designate online groups successfully”.